Following VW’s €1 billion fine in June, German prosecutors have penalized Audi as well with the whopping amount of €800 million ($928 million).
The huge fine is “due to deviations from regulatory requirements in the context of certain V6 and V8 diesel aggregates and diesel vehicles manufactured or distributed by Audi AG,” the automaker says in a statement.
The investigation carried out by the Munich II public prosecutor found that Audi’s “emissions service/power engine approval” failed to monitor vehicles’ regulatory conformity. According to the results obtained by the prosecution, the breaches of monitoring duties “were concurrent causes of certain V6 and V8 diesel aggregates developed by Audi AG not meeting regulatory requirements.” That’s not all.
“Audi AG failed to discover that diesel engines of the types EA 288 (Gen3), in the United States and in Canada, and EA 189, worldwide, that were produced by Volkswagen AG were advertised, sold to customers, and placed on the market with an impermissible software function in the period from 2004 and continuing to have an effect until 2018.”
The company has accepted the fine and will not lodge an appeal against it, thus admitting its responsibility. As a result of the administrative order imposing the fine, “the active regulatory offense proceedings conducted by the Munich II public prosecutor against Audi AG will be finally terminated.”
In the wake of the news, Audi Group said it would significantly undercut major financial key performance indicators forecasted for the current fiscal year.